The CMA profession

As experts in strategic and financial management, certified management accountants organize the information necessary for making decisions, design systems and implement effective action plans. CMAs are trained to see the "big picture" as well as spot emerging trends. They deliver innovative programs in every area that affects the value of products and services: quality, performance, cost, and customer responsiveness. Here are some of the tasks they may be entrusted with:

• initiating and guiding major changes
• directing and mobilizing teams
• planning and managing projects with substantial budgets
• planning and coordinating system implementation
• improving business processes, etc.

CMAs have the knowledge and skills necessary to develop innovative and integrated strategies that will enhance the effectiveness of decision-making. They apply advanced management and accounting practices in all business functions, including strategic planning, sales and marketing, information technology, human resources, finance, and operations. Their distinctive expertise in management accounting and management lets them create value within organizations as active partners in the continuous improvement of overall performance.

Distinctive nature

Management accounting and financial accounting must meet distinct but complementary challenges. Below are the fundamental characteristics that distinguish management accounting, the expertise of CMAs, from financial accounting, the domain of CAs.

Management accounting

Management accounting seeks to respond to the needs of the organization by providing management with the information needed to make decisions. Senior management needs to follow operating results, coordinate activities, make decisions on product design, content and price and plan operations. Such information cannot be provided systematically because it is generally based on particular situations. This means it must be original and provided on an ad hoc basis, and the structures that provide it must be flexible and adaptable.

Financial accounting

Many authorities claim that the traditional role of financial accounting is to audit the quality of the organization's management. It requires the use of retrospective data based on operations. Some say that it provides information to outside decision-makers. Still others maintain that it measures and accounts for phenomena that are not always easy to understand. Inventory costing is one example. These difficulties have led financial accounting to rely on structures and rules. Unlike management accounting, it focuses on form rather than on information. This can be clearly seen in the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Manual, which stresses the rules and methods allowed, rather than the type of information users may need.

The CMA Order

Mission

As part of its mission to protect the public as defined by the Professional Code, the Ordre des comptables en management accrédités du Québec (Québec Certified Management Accountants Order) provides leadership to the CMA profession through the enforcement of high standards and the recognition of the designation.

To fulfill its mission more effectively, the Order promotes four values: integrity, excellence, entrepreneurship and adaptability.

The Office des professions du Québec oversees the 44 professional orders constituted under the Professional Code, three of which are accounting orders: CMAs, CAs and CGAs. Accounting is the only professional field in Québec governed by more than one order. The Professional Code divides the orders into two categories: orders with exclusive practice (use of title and practice of the profession reserved for members) and orders with reserved titles (only the use of the title is reserved). The Order belongs to the second category.

Path

There are many paths leading to decision-making positions. But if you want to be a manager with an accounting background, the certified management accounting route is THE choice for our times, the one that combines the depth of the specialist with the broader vision of the generalist.

Source and further information: http://www.cma-canada.org